August 18, 2025
FOIA Documents Show EPA Surveilled East Palestine Residents
WASHINGTON—Government Accountability Project has obtained records of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) surveillance of East Palestine residents following the Norfolk Southern train derailment via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. These records of communication between EPA personnel show a pattern of tracking and monitoring private citizens for the purpose of public relations while the residents of East Palestine, Ohio suffered with the aftermath of the train derailment with their needs going unmet by the government agencies sworn to help them.
When the Norfolk Southern train derailed on February 3, 2023, hundreds of thousands of pounds of vinyl chloride and other toxic and flammable materials spilled into the soil. Since the disastrous train derailment, residents of East Palestine have experienced intense health concerns including blood in the urine, bloody noses, rashes, headaches, a seizure cluster, and stroke-like symptoms. When EPA, the Center for Disease Control, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to provide aid to the town, they began organizing within their community.
However, the recently obtained emails between senior EPA officials, including a Region 5 On Scene Coordinator, and EPA employees assigned specifically to help this community showed that residents who were most vocal about the health impacts were being tracked by EPA. Meanwhile, the town’s needs...
Banking stocks across the globe sold off on Friday, as fears about bad U.S. loans spilled over into equity markets beyond the United States. U.S. stock markets were rattled on Thursday amid mounti...